


Duality

by 3am_updates



Series: Lord & Wild [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Again, Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse, Amnesia, Discord Chats inspired this, Four helps them, Gen, Insecurity, Inspired by Discord, It all started when Wild got drunk..., Jealousy, Like, Lord and Wild are my baby boys and I will protect them forever, Lord and Wild are the same person, Lord and Wild are two separate people, Lord and Wild become best bros, Lord is Link, Lord is pre-calamity Link, Lord is pre-calamity Wild, Memories, Memory Loss, Mental Disorders, Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Notes, Poor Life Choices, Poor Lord, Poor Wild, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Self-Doubt, Self-Loathing, There might be self-harm later, They both get into one body, They both hate themselves, They have different personalities but technically they are the same person, They have to deal with each other, Ugh, What could be considered Alcohol abuse, Wild is Link, Wild is post-calamity Link, ahhhh, because he has experience TM, everyones out of character, failure - Freeform, he cant talk to people normally, i can't write, identity crisis, idk yet, internally screaming, it's complicated - Freeform, lord and wild can talk to each other because they are basically at ease with each other, lord doesn't act so formal with wild because he feels comfortable, never let wild get drunk, poor babies, self-hate, the author can't tag, these boys need help, these tags are all over the place, they take care of each other, umm, unless he really trusts them or is comfortable with them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-29 21:30:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20089075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3am_updates/pseuds/3am_updates
Summary: Link doesn't know what happened.There was explosions and fire and chaos and lasers and then... darkness.He doesn't know where he wakes up. It's definitely not Hyrule- there's ruins everywhere, and its so... empty.He can't control his body, and there's someone else in his mind.The other person said his name was Link as well. That would get confusing.They call each other Wild and Lord.(otherwise known as the one where Link from pre-calamity and Link from post-calamity end up sharing a body. Inspired by Discord discussions. Special thanks to the people on discord for helping create Lord and this idea!)("Duality" is a work detailing Lord and Wilds adventures over the course of Breath of the Wild and possibly Breath of the Wild 2. They will not meet the other heroes here. So far, the chapters are in no particular order, but the chapter titles will say something along the lines of "Chapter One: Waking Up pt. 1" to indicate that they are part of a chronological series of chapters that occur throughout Breath of the Wild. If they are meant to be stand alone one-shots, the chapters will have normal, pre-generated titles, like "Chapter One". I hope this clears up any confusion!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello ya'll if you have questions please ask me in the comments cause this will be confusing  
thanks for reading!

Memory was something that Wild preferred not to discuss. 

He didn’t have a favorite memory. Nor a least favorite. He didn’t have memories of his childhood, and he most certainly did not have memories of anything before he woke up in the Shrine of Resurrection. He would very much appreciate if people stopped asking him about it. 

Sure, he had flashback-like retellings of things that supposedly happened before (before he died, before he failed) but… they didn’t like  _ his _ . He felt like he was… watching through someone else’s eyes, intruding on moments that weren’t his. It felt… wrong, and intrusive.They might have been his memories from before, but not anymore. He can’t see himself so prim and proper. Stiff. Silent. 

So, he doesn’t have memories. That’s fine. He’ll make new ones. Better ones. Ones that aren’t filled with smoke and pain, one without destruction and lasers that scar his skin.

He is doing well. Defeating Ganon was… harder than expected, and definitely left him with new scars. He prefers not to remember to remember or think too much about the battle. 

Wild returns to Kakariko first. He needs to make sure everyone there is alive. Make sure everyone knows (that he stumbled to a victory he didn’t deserve) that there were still threats that he failed to protect them from. It wasn’t safe just because he lucked his way to victory. 

He says hello to Paya and Impa and numerous other people. They try to give him gifts- gifts he doesn’t deserve- honeyed apples and bags of rupees. He doesn’t know how to refuse (his other self would have been better, structured, the calm person that these people needed. He needed to be who he was before. All he was was a mess, an imposter of the boy chosen by the sword, a fake that couldn’t help anyone.) He can’t turn away their grateful eyes and smiles, so he takes the gifts and finds ways to sneak the money and more material items back into their owners possessions. 

He travels to Hateno soon enough, with enough gifts to last him a lifetime. He’s not heading  _ home  _ exactly- his home is in the trees and at the beach, climbing mountains and exploring- but he wants to sleep in a bed that’s not at a stable. He knows that Zelda wants to travel, and he knows that he’ll be ‘needed’ at the castle soon enough. Repairing broken things that he failed to save. He doesn’t know what to do- he can’t be prim and proper, he can’t be who they need him to be. He doesn’t remember his knight’s training- and he probably doesn’t want to. 

So, he procrastinates and goes to Hateno. He could fast travel (Zelda insisted he keep his slate. ‘It’s only fair. You’ll have more use for it than I ever will. Besides, Purah’s working on a prototype’) but he likes riding with Epona more. It feels more… natural and gives him a better sense of freedom. Warping gives him headaches, and he doesn’t really deserve the convenience of the slate. 

Hateno is… nice. It’s loud and crowded and  _ crushing _ but the people are nice and they insist on a celebration. They’re crazy and loud and and Wild is pretty sure some of them are already drunk. He’s pickpocketed rupees from a couple of men acting  _ very  _ inappropriate. He confronts them later, and the glow of the Master Sword on his back seems to drive them home for the night. 

But Miranda- a sweet shop keeper that insists on giving him discounted arrows- shoves a drink in his hands and insists he joins the party thrown for him. It doesn’t matter that he’s under the legal drinking age. So he stands awkwardly, the alcoholic drink (he decided that he does  _ not  _ like the taste of alcohol at all) preventing him from signing anything. He turns a corner and dumps the liquid in a bush, still recoiling from the bitter taste. He swaps it out for a flask of water from his slate. 

Later, he thinks he must have grabbed seawater, because his drink tastes way saltier than before. His movements are slow and choppy when he kills undercover Yiga, and he’s lost his usual catlike grace. He blames it on the atmosphere and the nervousness that the crowd gives him. 

The rest of the night is a blur. He really wishes he was in the forest- the celebration is hot and stifling and sticky and nerve-racking. He dimly remembers stumbling up the stairs of his house, and the dizzying feeling of nausea, but he knows nothing else when he wakes up in the morning with a splitting headache. 

He had a  _ sip  _ of whatever Miranda gave him. There’s no way that even he’s that much of a lightweight. Unless… his water did taste off, and a couple of men did get too close to him, and his drink was open and unguarded for a bit....

It didn’t matter now, because he’s pretty sure all of  _ whatever that was  _ got out of his system when he threw up. 

He fumbles for his slate, drinking fresh, clear water that he knows isn’t contaminated. The taste is horrible in his cottony mouth, but he needs to be rid of the hangover that he didn’t know the origins of. 

He makes his way down the stairs, clutching at the railing and squinting against the light. Something scratches his foot. White crumpled paper stares up at him. He shakily picks it up and unfolds it. The cursive lettering is murder on his eyes on his eyes, but he eventually makes the words out. 

** _Sister’s name: Aria. DON’T FORGET. -L_ **


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild debates what to do.   
Is that voice his conscious? He hopes not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW LIKE WOW GUYS  
i posted this yesterday and ive already got a lot of kudos! so thanks to everyone! if you have any ideas, please tell me! i would love to hear speculations or theories or even just random stuff.   
sorry for the short chapter!

The note- supposedly from himself- is thrown on the table before he continues on. He forces himself to eat some bread and apples, feeling only a bit better afterwards.

He lays in bed most of the day, feeling guilty for being so unproductive but not knowing what to do. He goes through old photos on the slate (He doesn’t know what a ‘meme’ is, but there’s thousands of them saved in a different folder, and the ones that make sense are funny to him), going outside once or twice to see if there’s anyway he could be useful. 

He goes back inside, bringing out another piece of bread. A fairy might cure what remains of his hangover, but his instincts scream at him when he thinks about bringing one out. 

Fairies are to be saved for when he truly needs them. 

So, he sits at the table and nibbles at his bread. The white of paper catches his eye. The note that he had found this morning sat innocently on the table. 

He abandons his bread and reaches for the note.

“L” would be him, right? “L” for Link. But who was Aria? He didn’t remember anyone by that name, and besides, he can’t write in cursive. 

Maybe the cursive was because he was drunk (or drugged). Was that it? Did he remember something while drunk and write it down so he didn’t forget it? 

It’s probably the most logical explanation, but he didn’t like it. 

Would he remember more if he got drunk again? Would he even have the sense to write whatever he remembered down again?

He’s back where he started- with no information. Trial and error got him through this much, right? It would have to work again. 

Goddamnit. Alcohol was disgusting, and he’d probably have to drink a lot more. 

He faintly hears what sounds like his own voice talking in the distance. Something about a sister. 

He dismisses it as paranoia. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alright. more random junk. no real plot in this chapter, I promise there's gonna be some in the next one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright so this is confusing.   
Basically, Wild is very uncomfortable in Hateno. It's hard for him to adjust to being safe, poor boy.   
He's figured out that he gets notes in the morning after he gets drunk, and since he wants to know more about what he was before, he tries to get drunk and get more notes. This is very unhealthy, and here is where there is alcohol abuse. It will be fixed soon though, don't worry. Keep in mind that the notes contain things from his previous life like what his favorite food was or what his friends were like.   
As he gets more and more notes (and more memories) a little voice starts appearing in his head. Spoilers, this voice is Lord (pre-calamity Wild) and Lord is basically slowly being incorporated into Wild's mind. Lord has no idea what is going on, he was basically going on with his life and then suddenly he's in Wild's mind. Lord just sort of helps Wild, but Lord appears gradually in Wild's mind.   
Anyways, that's a summary cause this chapter is a bunch of confusing nonsense. Once again, please ask if you have and questions or clarifications cause it will probably help me figure out what the heck I'm doing.   
Thanks for reading, and sorry the long note!

Hateno is… normal, and it’s unsettling. 

He is used to fighting. Used to violence and blood and wounds and pain. He is used to blood moons that undue his work and never sitting still. He is used to constantly moving, and he is used to never being safe. 

He is used to Yiga disguised with friendly faces. He is used to trusting no one but himself. He is used to foraging, wondering if he will have a next meal. He is used to relying on his own wits and the ghosts of his friends. He is used to his shields breaking and leaving him defenseless. 

He doesn’t know how to handle calm spaces. He doesn’t know how to handle friendly faces with no ill intent. He doesn’t believe that the children are as innocent as they look. He doesn’t believe that these people want to help him. 

The list of people he can trust is very small. 

  1. _Mipha_
  2. _Daruk_
  3. _Urbosa_
  4. _Revali_
  5. _Zelda?_
  6. <strike>_Himself_</strike>

He doesn't let himself trust anyone else. To do so is foolish. Those close to him have been affected by his failure ( _ The Champions are dead, Little Hero, Zelda is broken, Little Hero, it's your fault, Little Hero, Little Hero what are you to do? Save us, Little Hero, won't you _ ?) and he will not allow others to be harmed by him. 

He is not loved. People want to hurt him. 

The calm of Hateno, and the absence of these ideals, upsets him. People are nice and it's sincere (He plasters smiles on his face for them). He is offered food that isn't poisoned (He doesn't eat it). He can sleep without locking his door (he still does). 

It... is different. He can't get used to it. 

He is bad at adjusting. 

It's fine. The people believe he is happy, and so he is. They need not know about the bottles of liquor he keeps under the bed, nor the notes that he tries to make sense of. 

He is lost again, and the notes are towers. He has to get them and unlock sections of the map. One, his sister's name. Two, his favorite flower. Three, the eye color of his best friend. Four, wildberry pie. Five, his middle name. Six, his favorite place. 

They are random, and he's beginning to feel like a conspiracy theorist, with them strung up and pinned together in an attempt to make sense of it all. There is a wall in his room dedicated to cursive writing, and stacks of blank paper for when he gets drunk. 

Despite the alcohol's horrible taste, and despite the headaches he wakes up to (How has he not developed any sort of tolerance?) he finds himself loving the random notes. It's grounding, in a way, and they feel like his, so different from the flashbacks he sometimes gets. They're _ his _ , to make sense of and to cherish, and he has new things to fill his memory with. Some of them make him cry (His mother dies, and his father turns cold, and his friends aren't around after he stumbles across the sword-) but most of them are good. Friendly. Happy. (The koroks are nice to him, he never gets turned around in the Lost Woods, his sister smiles up at him and her first word is 'bubba!'-). 

And he loves the notes. He's not addicted to the alcohol- he's addicted to the notes, the little snippets of a life that he once knew. He doesn't remind himself that it's not really his life (-it's someone else’s, someone who was good enough-) and life is good. He doesn't sleep but he's not tired. 

He's fine. 

Something else comes along, though, and he's not sure how to deal with it. Hearing voices in one's head was, from what he understood, not good. The voice is friendly enough- it sounds like him, but more structured. Stable. He doesn't hear much from the voice at first, but he gets more and more notes, and he can hear the voice more. It's there, in everyday life. Giving him tips.  _ Tighter grip with our left hand. Parry in 3...2... now! Keep our body horizontal when swimming. Go to bed, it's late. Eat a little more, just a few more bights? Read a bit, you need to relax. Take care of yourself, please.  _

And eventually, The Voice isn't just a voice. It's- no, he's, a person now, and he deserves a name. Wild can talk to him purposefully now, as opposed to when Wild couldn't even recognize that he was there. So, Wild asks him what he's called. 

_ "I think... My name is Link." _


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord and Wild decide on nicknames, then get a scare when they learn that there's trouble in Kakariko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright alright alright I said there would be plot in this chapter.  
I'm really unhappy with this chapter but I needed to just write it. Maybe I can go back and rewrite it at some point.   
For clarification, Lord and Wild are now aware that they are two people. In the same body. But they don't know that they are technically the same person.   
Alright I feel like i'm always explaining stuff in the notes. But I need to keep track of my thoughts sooo. Sorry.   
Wild doesn't know that they can switch who has control of their body. 
> 
> Bold is sign language, Italics is thoughts/ the boys talking to each other in their head. Normal text is normal boring text.   
Im actually going to take care of plot holes next chapter i swear

_ “I think… My name is Link.” _

Wild laughs, because he doesn’t know what else to do. “You can’t be Link.  _ I’m  _ Link.”

_ “I am as well.”  _

“Well, okay then. We need something else to call each other though, ‘cause this is gonna be confusing.” Wild gets up, deciding to do something productive. 

_ “Like… a nickname?” _

“Yea. I can be… Wild.” He doesn’t know where the name comes from, but he likes it, and he feels more comfortable with it than he ever did with ‘Link’ anyways.

_ “I could be Lord.” _

“Lord? I like it, where’d it come from?”

Wild can feel Lord’s emotions spike negatively before he answers.  _ “It’s a name that some…  _ friends _ gave to me.”  _ From the way he says ‘friends’ harshly, Wild can tell that those people were definitely not friends. 

“Are you sure? We can come up with something different if you like-”

Wild’s interrupted by a loud knock on the door. He instinctively grabs his sword, pose going defensive in a second. He relaxes soon enough, but keeps his sword drawn as he opens the door.

He’s greeted with a panicked, messy man. The man is out of breath, hand on the wall to stable himself. The guy’s horse is behind him, eating Wild’s flowers. 

“Master Link! Lady Impa requires you to be at Kakariko Village as soon as possible!”

Wild’s gut twists. Something’s happened, hasn’t it? Someone’s hurt, something’s attacking, he’s  _ failed  _ someone, and-

He doesn’t notice that his breathing has picked up until he catches the sound of the man’s worried voice distantly. His hand tightens on his sword and he can’t see the finer details of the world around him. There’s a dizzying sensation, like warping, and then he can’t feel anything around him anymore. He’s aware of his body- but he’s detached, like he can’t control anything. 

He distantly feels his hands moving- but he didn’t command himself to move them. They sign out words.  **“What’s the matter? What happened?” ** but he definitely couldn’t have done that. 

_ What’s going on? _

The man speaks again, and this time Wild can hear him. “There’s t-t-two l-l-lynels threatening us.”

Before Wild can even react, his hands move of their own accord and reach his slate to tap the Ta’loh Naeg Shrine. The familiar sensation of warping engulfs him again, and then he’s looking over Kakariko with a splitting headache. 

_ What’s going on?  _ He desperately repeats, but he can’t move his mouth to form words, or his hands to sign.  _ Why can’t I move?! _

His own voice speaks back to him. “Don’t freak out! Your just in our mind! You can’t move because I have control of our body! Just breathe, alright?”

_ “Lord?” _

“Yea, come on Wild, we have to talk to Impa, I can explain later. It’s okay, we’re fine. Do you want to take control of our body?”

No. He doesn’t understand what’s going on, and he probably can’t keep it together long enough to do whatever needed to be done.  _ “No, can you-” _

“I’ve got it. I can’t talk to you without speaking out loud, so I won’t be able to once we go down? Are you okay?”

_ “I’m fine. Just- go make sure everyone’s okay.”  _ It is  _ not  _ okay, but that’s Wilds immediate response. It doesn’t matter that he’s confused and scared, they have to go fix whatever happened. 

“Alright.” Lord is… calm, and collected, and he sounds like he knows what to do. It’s comforting, in a way, and Wild is relieved that Lord knows what’s happening, because he doesn’t  _ (What does Impa need? People are in trouble? Did he let anyone get hurt? Did he fail to do his job?)  _ and so Lord can do what he can’t.  _ (Did he just have a fucking panic attack because a messenger said there was trouble? And he’s supposed to be the Hero! A Hero wouldn’t be such a fucking mess- he’s a fake and he doesn’t deserve-) _

Lord jumps down, clumsily bringing out Wild’s paraglider. He whispers while he still can. “Stop that.”

_ “You can hear my thoughts?” _

Lord nods, jumping down to the balcony of Impa’s house. He knocks on the door, only going in when he hears Impa’s voice call out to him. Wild can feel his shock upon seeing Impa, but he doesn’t understand Lord’s surprise. Impa’s just… Impa, like she always is, except with a worried look on her usually calm face. “Master Link, that was certainly fast.”

**“What’s the matter, Lady Impa?” **

_ Why did you call her Lady Impa? She told me to just call her Impa.  _

Lord shakes his head slightly, subtly. If Impa is surprised by the formality, she doesn’t show it, instead gesturing to her left. “There are two Lynels blocking the path. We don’t have the necessary equipment to deal with them, and we can’t risk sending anyone.”

**“You want u- Me to take care of them, Lady Impa?”**

“If you could, it would be appreciated. It is no small task, but I appreciate regardless.”

**“Alright. I’ll take care of them.”**

“Thank you, Master Link. I’ll be waiting here.”

Lord takes that as a dismissal, leaving swiftly and moving down the path towards where the Lynel supposedly was. 

_ What was that? Why were you so formal? _

“I’ll explain later, Wild. We have to take care of these Lynels.” 


End file.
